Chamaeleon gummifer | |
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Flowering specimen of Chamaeleon gummifer | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Asterales |
Family: | Asteraceae |
Genus: | Chamaeleon |
Species: | C. gummifer |
Binomial name | |
Chamaeleon gummifer (L.) Cass. | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Chamaeleon gummifer, also known as distaff thistle or stemless atractylis, is a thistle in the Chamaeleon genus. Formerly, it was placed in the Atractylis genus. [1] It is native to the Mediterranean basin, where it can be found in various habitats, including cultivated- or uncultivated fields and forests. [3] [1] It is a perennial herb producing a stemless, pinkish flower. The plant has a history of use in folk medicine, but it is very toxic due to the presence of atractyloside and carboxyatractyloside. [4]
Chamaeleon gummifer is a perennial thistle with a long rhizome extending up to 40 cm and spiky leaves emanating from its center. [5] [4] A pinkish inflorescence grows in the center, seen as a capitulum consisting of many small threadlike flowers. [4] The inflorescence is surrounded by spiny bracts. [5] Unusual compared to other thistles is the fact that the inflorescence of Chamaeleon gummifer does not grow on a stem. The ripe fruit of the plant may ooze a white or yellowish gummy latex produced by the rhizome. [4] Chamaeleon gummifer flowers in late summer or early autumn. [3]
Chamaeleon gummifer can be found along the Mediterranean basin, including Northern Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, Greece and Malta. [1] [3] It grows in various habitats and on various substrates, including in cultivated- or uncultivated fields, shrublands, forests and in rocklands. [1] It is rated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. [1]
The toxicity of Chamaeleon gummifer is thought to be caused by two related glycosides, atractyloside and carboxyatractyloside. [4] In Morocco, Chamaeleon gummifer is a common cause of plant poisoning, with children being especially vulnerable to severe effects. [6] Accidental ingestion of the plant can be due to confusion with the artichoke thistle, or due to use of its gummy discharge as a chewing gum. [6] Fatal cases of poisoning are not uncommon, even with treatment of symptoms. [6] [7] At least 98 fatalities occurred due to Chamaeleon gummifer poisoning in Morocco between 1981 and 2004, most of whom were children under the age of 16. [8] Severe cases may be associated with liver and kidney failure. [9] [7] There is currently no specific treatment to poisoning by Chamaeleon gummifer. [4]
Cirsium is a genus of perennial and biennial flowering plants in the Asteraceae, one of several genera known commonly as thistles. They are more precisely known as plume thistles. These differ from other thistle genera in having feathered hairs to their achenes. The other genera have a pappus of simple unbranched hairs.
Conium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae. As of December 2020, Plants of the World Online accepts six species.
Carlina is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It is distributed from Madeira and the Canary Islands across Europe and northern Africa to Siberia and northwestern China.
Cicuta virosa, the cowbane or northern water hemlock, is a poisonous species of Cicuta, native to northern and central Europe, northern Asia and northwestern North America.
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Alisma plantago-aquatica, also known as European water-plantain, common water-plantain or mad-dog weed, is a perennial flowering aquatic plant widespread across most of Europe and Asia, and apparently spread elsewhere in both the Old and New World.
Onopordum, or cottonthistle, is a genus of plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. They are native to southern Europe, northern Africa, the Canary Islands, the Caucasus, and southwest and central Asia. They grow on disturbed land, roadsides, arable land and pastures.
Pteridium aquilinum, also known as eagle fern, is a species of fern occurring in temperate and subtropical regions in both hemispheres. Originally native to Eurasia and North America, the extreme lightness of its spores has led to it achieving a cosmopolitan distribution.
Chamaerops is a genus of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae. The only currently fully accepted species is Chamaerops humilis, variously called European fan palm or the Mediterranean dwarf palm. It is one of the most cold-hardy palms and is used in landscaping in temperate climates.
Asteliaceae is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots.
Saururus cernuus is a medicinal and ornamental plant native to eastern North America. It grows in wet areas or shallow water, and can be up to about a meter tall. The native range covers much of the eastern United States, as far west as eastern Texas and Kansas, south to Florida, and north to Michigan and New York state. Saururus cernuus also occurs in Ontario Canada. It is an obligate wetland plant and able to grow in saturated soils.
Veratrum album, the false helleborine, white hellebore, European white hellebore, or white veratrum is a poisonous plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is native to Europe and parts of western Asia.
Cistus monspeliensis is a species of rockrose known by the common name Montpellier cistus. It is native to southern Europe and northern Africa, in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecosystems of matorral—maquis shrublands.
Conium maculatum, colloquially known as hemlock, poison hemlock or wild hemlock, is a highly poisonous biennial herbaceous flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae, native to Europe and North Africa. A hardy plant capable of living in a variety of environments, hemlock is widely naturalized in locations outside its native range, such as parts of Australia, West Asia, and North and South America, to which it has been introduced. It is capable of spreading and thereby becoming an invasive weed.
Senna occidentalis [Indian vernacular name Usaya ki Fali] is a pantropical plant species, native to the Americas. The species was formerly placed in the genus Cassia.
Ferula communis, the giant fennel, is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae. It is related to the common fennel, which belongs to the same family.
Atractyloside (ATR) is a natural, toxic glycoside present in numerous plant species worldwide in the daisy family including Atractylis gummifera and Callilepis laureola, and it's used for a variety of therapeutic, religious, and toxic purposes. Exposure to ATR via ingestion or physical contact is toxic and can be fatal for both humans and animals, especially by kidney and liver failure. ATR acts as an effective ADP/ATP translocase inhibitor which eventually halts ADP and ATP exchange and the cell dies due to lack of energy. Historically, atractyloside poisoning has been challenging to verify and quantify toxicologically, though recent literature has described such methods within acceptable standards of forensic science.
Carboxyatractyloside (CATR) is a highly toxic diterpene glycoside that inhibits the ADP/ATP translocase. It is about 10 times more potent than its analog atractyloside. While atractyloside is effective in the inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation, carboxyatractyloside is considered to be more effective. The effects of carboxyatractyloside on the ADP/ATP translocase are not reversed by increasing the concentration of adenine nucleotides, unlike its counterpart atractyloside. Carboxyatractyloside behavior resembles bongkrekic acid while in the mitochondria. Carboxyatractyloside is poisonous to humans as well as livestock, including cows and horses.
Aristolochia paucinervis is a herbaceous plant in the family Aristolochiaceae endemic to the western Mediterranean Basin.